Kim+ImrieLBF


 * Learning, Boredom, and Fun Analysis**

Just what makes learning fun? Based on the survey taken by approximately 237 students, there are a variety of ways to make both learning and the learning environment an exciting experience. If that statement is true, then why do we spend so many hours in boring lectures and dull learning environments? Just what defines the difference in a great, fun-filled learning environment and one that is boring, non-engaging and worst yet, a waste of valuable time?
 * Executive Summary:**

During the last two weeks, 97 males and 137 females responded to a 16 questions survey that specifically inquired about personal learning experiences that were both good and bad. Respondents were asked to furnish details about each of their shared experiences as well as some personal information about themselves that included gender, age and educational experience.

I started my data investigation by reviewing age, gender and educational differences. I used the survey filter to discover that one of the greatest discrepancies was in the area of education. Considering those completed surveys, 6.2% of the men had some high school education, while only 2.2% of women fell in that same category. Almost 74% of the women had completed undergraduate or graduate degrees while only 65% of the men had completed those degrees. Most of the surveys included experiences from high school and college course work, with ages ranging from 6-60, while many shared experiences in work-related fields and on-the-job training as well as experiences learning life skills while growing up.

Once again using the survey filter I turned my attention to the differences in what men and women felt was expected of them in a boring learning situation and an exciting learning environment. Even though the percentages were low for both genders, I was surprised to discover that in a boring situation males felt they were more apt to have the opportunity to interact with others and the instructor, move around, perform/present and think more creatively and critically than their female counterparts. Whereas females felt that most of their day would be spent "watching" and "sitting still". There was actually less discrepancy when males and females described their expectation for exciting events, females felt more apt to interact with others and to move around the room while males felt that they would likely perform /present interacting with technology or artifacts.

I spent the remainder of my time and attention browsing the responses and gather data on the differences between the males and female reactions to boring and exciting learning experiences, comparing their reactions and descriptors of the experiences.


 * What Makes Learning Boring?**

When an instructor lacks the ability to teach others, he/she tends to talk about "their" way of doing things with no room for any one else's ideas or opinions. There is neither room for discussion or interaction from students. Often times the teacher lectures and expects students to remember everything so that it can be regurgitated at a later time for a final exam. Scott shared that, "When a student volunteered their thoughts or opinions, they were criticized harshly, forcing students to stop participating." Other students shared that teachers who use PowerPoint and read directly from the slides in a monotone voice are very difficult to listen to and remember, especially when you are instructed to take notes on the lecture. Trojan mentioned that, "The teacher was writing with his back to the class, drowning on and on through multiple mathematical computations…." He felt that the presentation and lack of interaction made the information less relevant for the students.
 * 1. No need to think, just listen and remember! Participation not welcome!**

Where these expectations are evident the students can be sure that there is no student engagement or collaboration in this classroom. Space cadet stated, "I can't remember too much because of the monotony, a boring lecture devoid of interest; it was a monolog!" Scientist shared, " The lecture was held in a hall with hundreds of students most of who were not there by choice… there was a large screen at the front of the class displaying information which we were expected to copy and memorize."
 * 2. Sit down, sit still and shut up! No interaction or collaboration here!**

Sometimes it may be something as simple as the environment that causes a problem for the learner. Conditions may included uncomfortable chairs or stuffy, dark, hot/cold rooms; even the lack of sufficient facilities or snack foods during a long day can be what makes or breaks a learning session. A large lecture hall with too many students, warm air and a teacher talking "at" the students instead of talking "with" the students can lead to a disastrous day. C.J. stated, "The room was too cold, which made me want to get up and move around…" "The screen was too far away and it was difficult to see."
 * 3. Environment not conducive to learning!**

When art students are trying to learn about art work by different artists, using a slide show to introduce the different artists is appropriate, but using a slide show to demonstrate different styles and expecting students to take notes and remember what you are sharing is impossible and frustrating for those in the audience. Students need a hands-on experience to help them remember. They need to see, touch, feel and model it to remember it well enough. Excellent Erin stated, "My teacher gave us an exciting art lecture and slide show with pictures… Afterwards we were supposed to remember what she said about each of the pictures and complete a homework assignment based on the information." Perhaps if the slideshow had been followed with some collaborative group activities using realia for the students to talk about and compare, the homework activity might have been better understood. Jazzy J shared, "The boring event was a slide show in art history; we were expected to sit still. listen and remember details of each slide." "There was no interaction between the students and the teacher and the students with other students; the teacher showed the slides and dictated the information."
 * 4. The wrong teaching tool for the job… When a Slide Show is not a good teaching tool…**

When a teacher's initial learning objective is not clear, students are usually confused and frustrated. Lesson goals and objectives need to be clearly stated so that students understand what is expected of them. Marty J. shared, " We worked in groups of 4-6 at each table combing through data trying to determine what common assessment data should be used in standards-based instruction." "The instruction was vague and the end product wasn't really clear." Some learning requires clear modeling before understanding can take place. For example, Appletown Android shared that during router troubleshooting training his instructor "Talked" to him about possible trouble shooting solutions, but the instructor didn't provide any hands-on or modeling making it impossible to really understand the concepts.
 * 5. Vague instructions and no modeling leads students astray…**


 * What makes Learning Exciting?**

Students love to discover things on their own. If given the opportunity, students will step forward and use the tools available to them to create meaning to their world. The "mystery" of the "hunt" excites students, they are naturally curious and they want to learn/discover the answer. Students will use higher level and critical thinking skills such as analysis and synthesis to solve a problem. Cat shared that one of her favorite lessons was, "We were asked to dissect an owl pellet, placing the tiny bones back into anatomically correct places." "The experience was fun because it was a mystery that revealed the type of animal that owls eat; putting the bones in place required critical thinking."
 * 1. Stimulating, Collaborative Lessons Engage Students in a World of Discovery!**

Using games, role-playing and simulations brings learning to life for students. Students can act out a character in a story or they can use a simulation activity to learn how to fly a real plan, relating the skills to real-life activities. They can play a game that teaches them a concept or helps them remember important information. Bacon shared, "To help us understand Shakespeare, our teacher assigned each small group a scene from a Shakespearean play, the task was to perform the scene in a different setting (i.e. western time frame)." "This assignment made the students really think about what the scene was really about instead of just reciting the paragraphs." Fannie Mae stated, "We played a game called predator and prey in the wilderness area next to our school." After the experience they discussed the strategies each used and why some were successful and others not." She stated that it was a challenging and exciting hands-on experience and that they used higher level thinking skills while discussing the strategies. Craig Laig felt that his experience with a multi-layered approach through simulation was, "No books and no video, it was like being in a video!"
 * 2. Role-playing, Games and Simulations Make Learning Fun**

Working together to solve a problem is the best form of collaboration. It allows students to use higher order and critical thinking skills, analyzing data and putting a hypothesis to work to solve a problem. Masher shared, "In my physics class we were asked to create a project that verified the truth of the physical laws. We were to work with a partner to build a bridge. The class competed to see who built the best bridge based on its design and ability to hold weight." Students' love creating projects and they also love the competition and the challenge it provides.
 * 3. Collaboration, Creativity and Higher Level Thinking Skills**

Good teachers tie their lessons to real life skills and activities giving students a reason for learning and engaging them in the learning process. These types of activities allow students to perform real-world tasks and solve problems, using higher order and critical thinking skills. Geetar shared, "My Economics teacher had us use fake money to purchase stocks in the real market using newspapers." "Our outcome and how we bought and sold the stocks affected our grade for the assignment."
 * 4. Tying Lessons to Real Life Skills and Experiences**

Students are more engaged in the learning process if they take on the important role of learner through hands-on experiences. “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.” Pearly describes, "Acting out the problem with the use of candy bars made it easier to understand fractions, much easier to understand than on paper." Using hands-on activities creates a "concrete" connection to the real world.
 * 5. Using Hands-on Learning to Engage Learners**


 * New Implications for me…**

I will use the information that I have derived from this survey as a template for creating lessons and supporting the creation of lessons by new teachers in training. Taking what I have learned from this survey, I know that an engaged, interested student is a happy, energetic student. I must be cognoscente of providing multi-modality lessons and modeling differentiation of instruction for all learners. I also discovered that students appreciate collaborative, real-life experiences to tie learning to their worlds. Students love to create projects taking responsibility for their own learning process and success. As a teacher I need to become more of a facilitator by modeling and providing the students more opportunities to learn and experience learning using higher order critical thinking skills and from collaboration working with others. I need to remember the old adage, “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.”